Productive Procrastination—Don’t Let Busywork Consume You

Mine tends to be looking at my phone for emails, social media, and general “waking up.” Looking at what potential problems may greet us before going to the office. In other words, avoidance of the real work at hand.

Arriving at the office, the first thing I tend to do, and most of the people around me, is check email. Discover the problems other people would like us to take care of. This is the start of a reactionary day.

On the surface, this appears to be productive. Taking tasks of the to-do list. But not all tasks are created equal.

This scenario is productive procrastination.

Living in the small tasks that make us think we are productive. In the context of our mornings, maybe this is “warming up” for the day.

In the context of solving important problems, it is avoiding difficult work and providing effective solutions.

Productive procrastination is busywork. It’s like a bad drug. You feel great while doing it, but afterwards, you’re left wondering what happened. Where your day went.

Productive procrastination is dangerous. Especially, when we continually let ourselves fall into busywork during our peak energy levels. Allowing the tasks which do not deserve our optimal energy, to consume the most productive parts of our day.

If you have set your priorities, then you already understand what work will generate the largest impact to your business.